LED Super Calculator

Ever been using a calculator and thought how much cooler it could look? Or maybe you're a gamer and need a gaming-style calculator to fit your high-speed calculations.

The Super Calculator is built like any other normal calculator, but this time with a much cooler case.

And look at the photos! I find projects with a ton of text look too ominous and challenging, so there's plenty of tips and extra help in the image captions.

To make your very own Super Calculator you need:

one normal non-scientific calculator

3D printer

3D printer material (filament) of your color choice

AA battery pack

On/Off Switch

a 30mm fan

basic soldering tools

If you just want to build one of these yourself, you can skip this step.

I started with the measurements of my existing calculator and went from there. I looked around for designs and gaming products that I thought were cool and tried to keep them in mind when designing the new case for the calculator.

The bulk of the calculator was designed in Tinkercad, while the keypad was done in Fusion 360 to make sure the measurements were accurate.

The next step is to 3d print the two parts needed for the case

I suggest printing them at a layer height of 0.2mm to make sure everything fits properly.

Be careful when removing the supports not to break any of the bridges across the keypad

PLA filament is probably the best to use since it's so reliable. I printed the parts in all black PETG but any material should work. I suggest using a two-tone paint job like a red base and black body (just to make it look cooler)

Attached are the two main files, the body, and the backplate. The backplate can be attached with screws or just simply glued onto the body.

You may have to split up the files or modify them slightly for printing purposes. Printability can vary depending on the size and quality of your 3D printer, so be sure to mess around a bit with the setting to get the best quality you can.

Since I am using a budget printer, I had to split up the two files to print properly.

The first step to assembly is to put the actual calculator into the case. Start by setting the calculator's main screen into the slot. Assuming you started with the same calculator I did it should fit in and can be held in place with some hot glue or sticky tape.

Make sure to check from the other side that the item is properly placed before attaching!

If you have a different but similar calculator, you can simply trim down the small corners and use hot glue or sticky tape to hold the screen in.

From there you can take the smaller solar panel (only if your calculator had one, otherwise you don't need to do this) and attach that in the same way you connected the larger screen, with hot glue or sticky tape.

Next is the membrane keypad. The keypad will most likely only fit exact or very similar models of the calculator. If you have any trouble with this step you can try to modify the model yourself to fit the keypad of your calculator. If you need any help with this leave a comment on this Instructable and I can help you out.

The circuit board for the keypad and displays should fit around four printed pegs on the case. These pegs can then be melted down with a soldering iron to hold the circuit board in place. Again, if your circuit board doesn't measure the same as mine did and it won't fit, trim these pegs off and simply hot glue the board or fasten it another way.

As soon as the keypad and displays are properly connected, you can move on to the next step.

The last step is to wire up and install the 30mm fan and add as many LEDs as you can

Start by placing the overclock button (in my case a big red toggle button) in the slot on the side of the calculator and solder the wires according to the diagram.

Wire up the battery pack (without batteries in it) with the red cable soldered to the switch, and the black cable attached to the black cable of your LEDs.

The lights are completely up to you, as it's impossible to design something to fit what everyone needs. I used a certain type of LEDthat is soldered to a thin PCB, but you can use whatever you want.

Solder the LEDs to the other end of the power switch (or overclock button as I call it) and just hot glue them or attach them another way. Make sure to check the LEDs from the outside though before you firmly attach them to the case, as it can be a pain to fix later.

Wire all of the red (power) cables of the LEDs to the other end of the power switch, so that they are only turned on when you toggle the switch.

The 30mm fan should slide onto the four pegs tightly. Make sure to put a little dab of superglue or hot glue at the base of all four pegs before sliding the fan into place. Once the fan is attached to the backplate you can solder the black cable to the black cable on the battery, and the red cable to one end of the switch (the one not also connected to the battery)

You can also cover (from the inside) the two slots at the bottom with a fabric/mesh if you have it. Don't worry about ruining the airflow, I'm fairly confident the calculator will do alright without it.

There's also a slot on either side of the main display to thread some grip tape through, just to give it some more texture.

The "SUPER" text above the main display can be lit from behind and look super cool if the text prints properly.

The two vents at the bottom of the calculator can be covered with some mesh from the inside to make it look cooler.

You can also use any little rubber pads you might have lying around as grips on the backplate.

Now that you have a calculator as cool as your gaming setup, you can impress all of your friends with the glorious gaming-grade calculator you have created with your own hands. You can even impress your teacher with the light speed at which you can now make calculations.

The Super Calculator is still being updated! Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to do everything I wanted before the contest deadline. Coming updates, models, or guides will be uploaded here, along with some cool propoganda.

This project was created for the Make It Glow contest